Bayard’s Iconic Image: Pip did a short post a while ago on the iconic image of Cosette from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. What he discovered in the course of this research is that Émile Bayard published a book Le nu esthétique : l’homme, la femme, l’enfant which is a collection of nude photographic studies used by the artist to produce much of his work. It was just discovered that the French site Gallica has collected volumes which can be downloaded either as pdf files or paged through one jpeg at a time. Volumes 1 & 2 have been collected together into one book. And if you click on the link that says ‘See all documents from the same set’ there are four links, Pip suspects it will contain most if not all of the series.
Role of Butterfly in Portrayal of Psyche: A reader had a question regarding the use of butterfly wings in images from Pip’s Psyche series. In response, Pip sent me a link on the folklore of butterflies that should clarify things.
Pathologizing Intimacy: You have probably heard stories like this a hundred times, but one of our readers was kind enough to dig this one up for us. Not only was this a scandalous story which caused an outcry in Oberlin, OH, but the story was so compelling, the author Lynn Powell decided to write a book about it. The incidents in question took place before 2000 and the book, Framing Innocence, was published in 2010.
More Album Covers: Album covers were really more Pip’s thing so I can’t say much about the albums, but I am happy to share any discoveries passed on to me by readers. Here are some covers for: Dolphin, Lustro, Niurose, an album of Stories for Rainy Days and even an album offering a common-sense guide “Explaining sex to your little girl”!
Carnival Kids in Tokyo: As a kind of follow-up on a random image posted on Pigtails, a reader has found a cache of photos [link broken; see comment below] of some of the child participants. Given the perception of Japan as a conservative culture, these kids are baring an awful lot of skin for a public setting.
Delightfully Ironic: Pigtails in Paint has a reputation for opposing censorship. A reader was kind enough to share this t-shirt on the subject.
Also too what about Peter Dietrich with the
Enature series…was he questioned too? He had nothing obscene but still you know how people are.
I have no idea. Perhaps one of our readers can answer that. -Ron
What was the outcome of the LS girls situation…..I know that they had gotten raided
and the people involved with the photography and such got arrested. What was the
outcome of it after the court trials which I’m sure there were some if if you know of it.
I personally don’t know. I have not followed this story personally: just anecdotes from readers. I would not assume there were any trials. Since these folks were engaged in questionable activities, they may have accepted a lesser charge to expedite things. But who knows what rule of law exists in these Eastern European countries. Maybe one of our readers knows more. -Ron
I was surpised to read of this at first joining this forum! I have connections with that part of the world (Moldova, Transnistria, Odessa). I personally knew two of the people involved, a woman from Kiev and her friend, an English woman living in Minsk, Belarus.
None of the girls or their parents ever complained, but were angry about state interference and loss of income. No trials took place for there were no witnesses willing to co-operate. Some of the girls have since spoken positively about their experience.
Ostensibly in the name of ‘child protection’, the reality is that it was very likely all part of a larger covert […] operation […] Realpolitik cares nothing for children, but readily uses them as means to an end.
Thank you for you interesting comment. I have learned to trust my instincts and I’m afraid that your specific contention about international politics has a manipulative taste to it. If you can bring forth verifiable evidence that could shed real light on the situation, it would be much appreciated. My feeling is that you are making unfounded conclusions based on your own political bias. Thank you again, -Ron
Here’s my take on the situation. The LS group is taking advantage of parallels with Jock Sturges and how is images of naked children were found not guilty. They took a lot of naked images of children in cultures that don’t have hang-ups about child nudity. My problem, is the target audience. The LS group sold those images to paedophiles. I find this more dangerous and reprehensible than true child pornography. The LS group is injecting perversion into innocence.
Thank you for this concise explanation. -Ron
This off-topic discussion about the LS studios recurs periodically in the comments, it seems to interest some readers too much. Many of the photos that they took fall under the legal definition of CP, they are definitely outside the scope of PiP.
From what I read, after pressure from the USA, the studios were cracked down, but the trial collapsed, because the girls and parents did not want to testify against them (they had earned a lot of money, compared to their living standards). Later, some girls who had become adult said that they did not regret it, that they did not feel abused.
I suggest to stop discussing about that topic.
But a question and a point:
What does LS stand for?
Also, the fact that many of those girls, grown up by that time, refused to testify is very significant.
Concerning Bayard: On Gallica, you can (on the right menu) choose to download the PDF of the book, the JPEG of a page, or even a JPEG in higher resolution of a rectangular portion of a page. An associate has thus selected some photographs from plates, downloaded them in high resolution and enhanced them. I am also collecting high-resolution page portions with girls.
I have to laugh at that Cynthia Stewart stuff.
So how come they didn’t arrest Sally Mann?
At some point, Mann did become concerned that she was crossing a line and might get arrested by authorities. She took the initiative and contacted an FBI agent at a regional office in Virginia about the issue. The agent informed her that her work would not be on the radar of the FBI. Nonetheless, there is nothing stopping local law enforcement from taking some kind of action. Sometimes it is just a matter of luck. -Ron
Now how about the persecution (not a typo) of Jock Sturges?
He was arrested.
The parents of some of the children in his photographs told him that they would be willing to travel to California from France to testify in his favor.
Eventually the case against him was dropped.
Yes, and if we ever do a post on Jock Sturges, that is an inspirational part of his story. It reminds me very much of the guardian angels that seem to support us when we least expect it. -Ron
As conservative as the Japanese seem, they are known to be more casual about nudity. The thing that surprises me is them celebrating Carnaval.
Repressed societies tend to have some peculiar ways to let off steam. These apparent contradictions do seem strange to outsiders though. -Ron
Like the “bread and circuses” of the ancient Romans.
Exactly. That is a metaphor and I am quite fond of. In modern capitalist society, much is made of entertainment, but without the “bread”. What did the Roman leaders understand that we can’t? -Ron